Jeremiah 16
Jeremiah commanded not to marry in Jerusalem verse 1- 4
The word of the LORD came also unto me
saying
You shall not take you a wife
neither shall you have sons or daughters in this place
For thus says the LORD concerning the sons
and the daughters that are born
in this place
and concerning their mothers that bare them
and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land
They shall die of grievous deaths
They shall not be lamented
Neither shall they be buried
But they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth
and they shall be consumed by the sword – famine
And their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven
and for the beasts of the earth
Jeremiah commanded not to attend funerals verse 5- 7
For thus says the LORD
Enter not into the house of mourning
neither go to lament nor bemoan them
for I have taken away MY peace from this people
says the LORD
even loving-kindness and mercies
BOTH the great and the small shall die in this land
they shall not be buried – neither shall men lament for them
nor cut themselves – nor make themselves bald for them
neither shall me tear themselves for them in
mourning – to comfort them for the dead
neither shall men give them the cup of consolation
to drink for their father or for their mother
Jeremiah commanded not to attend party’s verse 8- 9
You shall not go into the house of feasting
to sit with them to eat and drink
For thus says the LORD of hosts – the God of Israel
BEHOLD – I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes
and in your days – the voice of mirth – gladness
bridegroom – and the voice of the bride
People of Jerusalem will question judgment verse 10
And it shall come to pass
when you shall show this people all these words
and they shall say to you
Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced
all this great evil against us?
or What is our iniquity?
or What is our sin that we have committed
against the LORD our God?
LORD gives reason for judgment verse 11- 13
THEN shall you say unto them
BECAUSE your fathers have forsaken ME
says the LORD – and have walked after other gods
and have served other gods – and have worshiped other gods
and have FORSAKEN ME
and have not kept MY law
AND you have done worse than your fathers – FOR – BEHOLD
you walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart
that they may not hearken unto ME
THEREFORE I will cast you out of this land
into a land that you know not
neither you nor your fathers
And there shall you serve other gods day and night
where I will not show you favor
Future plans of LORD for Israel: Restoration of land verse 14- 15
THEREFORE – BEHOLD – the days come – says the LORD
that it shall no more be said – The LORD lives
that brought up the children of Israel
out of the land of Egypt
BUT – The LORD lives – that brought up the children of Israel
from the land of the north and from all the lands whither
HE had driven them AND I will bring them
again into their land that I gave
to their fathers
Present plans of LORD for Israel: Judgment verse 16- 18
BEHOLD – I will send for many fishers – says the LORD
and they shall fish them and after will I send for many hunters
and they shall hunt them from every mountain
and from every hill and out of the holes of the rocks
For MINE eyes are upon all their ways – they are not hid from MY face
neither is their iniquity hid from MINE eyes
And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin DOUBLE
BECAUSE they have defiled MY land
they have filled MINE inheritance with the carcasses of
their detestable and abominable things
Future statements of foreign nations verse 19- 20
O LORD – my strength – my fortress – my refuge in the day of affliction
the Gentiles shall come unto YOU from the ends of the earth
and shall say
Surely our fathers have inherited lies – vanity
and things wherein there is no profit
Shall a man make gods unto himself
and they are no gods?
Future statement of the LORD verse 21
THEREFORE – BEHOLD – I will this once cause them to know
I will cause them to know MINE hand and MY might
and they shall know that MY name is THE LORD
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 For thus says the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them for I have taken away MY peace from this people, says the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies. (3073 “peace” [shalowm] means prosperity, success, welfare, deliverance, harmonious relations and freedom from disputes, especially during the absence of war, healthy, unaffectedness, safeness, friendliness, or deliverance.)
DEVOTION: Here we find that the LORD is giving a command to HIS servant to NOT mourn or lament or bemoan those who are dead. The people were not listening to the LORD and HE sent judgment and also told HIS faithful servant that he was not to do what was normal when someone dies.
God can give peace to us or HE can take it away. We have to realize that when we do things that are not pleasing to HIM, HE will not bless us and comfort us but send a time of trial our way to get our attention back where it should be.
Today, we have many people who are not worshiping the LORD properly while they claim to be followers of the LORD. They are just doing as they please and think the LORD will continue to bless them. This is not true.
God has the trait of being longsuffering but it does not mean that HE will do it forever, here is a limit for HIM and HE had reached the limit with the children of Israel. He sent them into captivity.
The can do the same thing today to groups of believers who used to serve HIM but have striated from the truth of the Word of God. There are great churches that were started honoring the LORD and then they striated away from the gospel.
Here we find the LORD telling HIS servant, Jeremiah to not even go to funerals. He was not to honor those who have died.
God wants us to honor HIM and HE will honor us! If we don’t honor HIM HE will send judgment like HE did to the children of Israel. HE is longsuffering but there is limit.
CHALLENGE: Are you challenging God with your actions? Remember what happened to the children of Israel. HE can still do that to us. Honor HIM and HE will honor you.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 10 “And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: Sometimes people have a difficult time with believing God’s word! They look at it and find it unbelievable that a loving God could or would pronounce judgment and disaster on a people that He says he loves. The question that is asked reveals how ignorant and blind the people of Judah was to the Lord’s ways! They should have known that God saw and sees their sins! It is equivalent to the questions asked by Israel in the book of Malachi when God was speaking to them (Mal. 1:6; 2:17; 3:7-8, 13). In verses 11-12 Jeremiah tells them their fathers had forsaken them and that they were worse than their fathers.
Sometimes we have a difficult time believing that God sees and will hold us accountable for the things He calls sin in His word. We compromise with the world and accept their standard of morality or ethics and ignore what God tells us in His word. Breaking of absolutes results in punishment regardless of whether we believe those absolutes or not. You jump off a cliff and you will crash to the ground! The absolute law of gravity is always at work, regardless of your beliefs. The same principle is true for God’s word. It will come to pass irrespective of your beliefs. We may question the results but the results will occur.
CHALLENGE: Today is a good day to come to grips with the absolute authority of God and His word! If He has spoken it to us He will bring those truths to pass even if the time it takes to happen is a thousand years or a few days. Do not let the stubbornness of your heart result in disobedience to His word. You will end up on the ground because God’s word never alters or fails. Like gravity, it works every time! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
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: 17 For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes. (5641 “hid” [cathar] means be absent, keep close, be concealed, or secret.
DEVOTION: God is omniscient. The presence of the LORD is everywhere. HE is omnipresent. HE knows all our thoughts. HE sees all our actions. HE has a record.
The LORD told the children of Israel the way they should go through HIS law. HE gave them specific instructions. HE didn’t leave anything to error. HE set up leaders to instruct each generation of what HE expected of them. The priests were to perform HIS instructions. The children of Israel were without out excuse in the sight of the LORD.
The children of Israel thought that they were getting away with their sins. They thought that God didn’t see them. They were following after every imagination of their evil hearts. The LORD wanted them to know that HE sees what is going on here on earth. HE knows all our secrets. HE doesn’t let us get away with anything. HE always sent nations to correct them. They were going to be corrected by a nation from the north. Babylon was coming.
HE was going to send soldiers to fish for all of HIS people who were scattered. HE was going to send hunters to hunt down all those who thought they had escaped to other lands. No one was free from the judgment of the LORD. HE had declared it and it was going to happen to all of Judah.
The LORD gave special instructions through HIS Son, Jesus Christ. These instructions are found in the New Testament. HE continues to not leave anything to chance. HE has a plan and has told HIS people HIS plan for their lives. They are to follow the straight and narrow road to heaven. Most of the world will follow the wide path that leads to destruction or hell for eternity.
HE is there to help those outside of Christ to get to know HIM. Those who know Christ are chastened, pruned, or corrected, so that, they can be more like Christ. Remember God is not absent, HE us always present. HE wants us to know HIS name. Do we know HIS name? Are we worshiping HIM in spirit and in truth? Let us not think that anything is concealed from the LORD in our lives!!!
CHALLENGE: Practice the presence of the LORD in our daily life. Realize that HE knows the thoughts and intention of our hearts. May HE see that these thoughts and intention are only toward HIM!
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely, our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. (3276 “profit” [ya‘al] means benefit, gain, avail, useful, aid, advantage, value, or help.)
DEVOTION: Jeremiah is making a statement concerning his perspective of the LORD. He communicates with the LORD regarding their relationship to one another. He wants the LORD to know that he gains his strength from the LORD to face all that daily life brings into his path.
He knows that the LORD is ALMIGHTY and no one and nothing can break through the HIS defenses to defeat him in his daily walk with HIM. The SWORD of the LORD is there to protect from all enemies.
He realizes that the LORD is the only place he can turn with confidence of victory. He knows that affliction is going to come. He knows that he is not going to like each of the afflictions the LORD allows in his life but he still turns to HIM at those times.
Not only will he turn to the LORD but in the future all of Israel will turn to the LORD for strength, defense and refuge. They will finally realize who HE is and how much HE loves them.
They will also inspire those who are not Israelites to come and trust in the LORD. This is a future plan that the LORD is working through HIS promise to Abraham. Abraham was to bless many nations.
We live in a day and age when the LORD is working with us who are not Israelites to become followers of HIM through HIS Son Jesus Christ. We have a future and a hope because of HIS death on the cross for our sins. HE has made promises to us. These promises are based on HIS plan in the past through HIS chosen people Israel.
CHALLENGE: As Gentiles, for the most part, we need to thank the LORD for including us in HIS plan. We have a future hope that we can share with others. Share these truths with others.
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Jeremiah prays verse 19- 21
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 1
Law verse 11
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 3, 5, 9- 11, 14- 16, 19, 21
Word of the LORD verse 1
LORD of hosts verse 9
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 9
God of Israel verse 9
LORD our God verse 10
Eyes of the LORD on HIS people verse 17
Hand of the LORD verse 21
Might of the LORD verse 21
MY name is The LORD verse 21
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Land of Egypt verse 14
Gentiles verse 19
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Evil verse 10
Iniquity verse 10, 17, 18
Sin verse 10, 18
Forsaken God verse 11
Walked after other gods verse 11
Served other gods verse 11, 13
Worshiped other gods verse 11, 20
Not kept the Law verse 11
Walk after imagination of evil heart verse 12
Not listen to the LORD verse 12
Defiled the land verse 18
Filled land with carcasses of detestable things verse 18
Filled land with abominable things verse 18
Inherited lies verse 19
Inherited vanity verse 19
Inherited things wherein is no profit verse 19
Make gods verse 20
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Peace verse 5
Loving-kindness verse 5
Mercies verse 5
Comfort verse 7
Shows favor verse 13
Inheritance verse 18
LORD is strength – fortress – refuge verse 19
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
God takes peace away from Israel verse 5
Israel verse 9, 14, 15
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
16:21 When they acknowledged him, he would teach them his “power” (lit. “hand”) and might. When that takes place, they will know that his “name is the Lord” (see 14:7 for the significance of this expression; cf. Exod 3:13–15). (Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, pp. 170–171). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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16:19–21. Jeremiah affirmed his trust in God as his Strength … Fortress, and Refuge (cf. comments on Ps. 18:2), three words that emphasized the protection God had provided for him. After affirming his trust in God, Jeremiah looked forward to the day when all the world would know God. Though Judah had turned to the false gods of the Gentiles, a time will come when the nations will come to the true God of Israel. They will admit that their former objects of worship were nothing but false gods, worthless idols (cf. comments on Jer. 2:5). At that time God will teach them of His power and might so they will understand His true character. They will know then that His name is the Lord (cf. Ezek. 36:22–23). ( Dyer, C. H. (1985). Jeremiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1151). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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Jeremiah’s affirmation (vv. 19–21). In a burst of faith and prophetic joy, Jeremiah saw not only the gathering of the Jewish remnant but also the coming of the Gentile nations from the ends of the earth to worship the true and living God of Israel. Isaiah had this same vision (Isa. 2:1–5; 11:10–16; 45:14), and so did Zechariah (Zech. 8:20–23). The Gentiles will confess their sin of idolatry and admit that the idols were worthless. Then they will be taught to know the Lord. Meanwhile, it’s the task of the church today to spread the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth so that sinners might abandon their false gods, whatever they may be, and trust in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Decisive (pp. 77–78). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books)
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Ver. 21. Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, &c.] Or, at this time, as the Targum; when the Gentiles shall be convinced of the idolatry they have been brought up in, and of the vanity and falsehood of their idols; they shall be made to know the true God, God in Christ, Christ himself, whom to know is life eternal, and to know the way of life and salvation by him; and all this through the ministry of the Gospel that should be brought among them, the spirit of God accompanying it; by means of which they should come to Christ from the ends of the earth, before predicted. I will cause them to know my hand and my might; to experience the power and efficacy of his grace in conversion; quickening their dead souls, softening their hard hearts, taking away the stony heart, and giving a heart of flesh; and making them willing in the day of his power to be saved by Christ, and to serve him; to relinquish their idols, and turn to and worship the living God in spirit and in truth: though most understand this not as a promise of grace to the Gentiles, but as a threatening of punishment to the idolatrous Jews; that because of their idolatry they should once for all, or by this one and grievous calamity, captivity in Babylon, be made to know what they could not be brought to know by all the instructions and warnings of the prophets; they should now feel the weight of the Lord’s hand, the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his wrath; and so the Targum, “I will shew them my vengeance and the stroke of my power.” And they shall know that my name is the Lord; the Jehovah, the self-existent Being, the Being of beings, the everlasting and unchangeable I AM; who is able to make good his promises, or perform his threatenings; a name incommunicable to creatures, which don’t belong to the idols of the Gentiles, is peculiar to the true God, who is the most High in all the earth; see Psalm. 83:18 (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 494). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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Jesus continues teaching with parables, then returns to His hometown of Nazareth.
INSIGHT
Throughout His ministry, there are periods during which Jesus teaches extensively in parables. Often the multitudes do not understand the meaning of the parables, but Jesus is careful to explain them to His disciples.
This pattern is illustrative of God’s ways: to those who are the most receptive to truth, the Lord grants understanding.
However, for those who do not receive the truth, greater understanding is not given. Light received brings greater light; light rejected leaves darkness. If you hunger for greater spiritual understanding, it is vital that you strive for faithfulness in what you do understand. Then light received can bring more light in your life. (Quiet Walk)
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TRIALS
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. John 17:15
God’s way is not to take us out of the difficulties and trials, not to avoid them. His way is to enable us and to strengthen us, so that we can go through them with heads erect and undefeated, more than conquerors in them and over them. And that is a wonderful thing.
We must never grumble at our lot, nor ask doubting questions. We must rather believe that there is always a purpose in these trials, if we can but see it; we must believe that God has laid this thing upon us and that He has left us in this situation in order that we may show forth His glory. The disciples were left in the world to do that, and you and I can be certain that whatever we may be passing through at this moment is a part of God’s plan and purpose for us to show forth His glory.
The world may not recognize you; it may ignore and dismiss you, and others may get all they want from the world. Do not worry about it. The saints have experienced the same thing, and Christ knew something similar: “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26). All is well—you are fulfilling the glory of God even as you go through a trial. Paul came to see that about his thorn in the flesh. “All right, God,” he says in effect, “I asked You three times to remove it, but You are leaving it. I see now that Your glory is going to be shown through me. Very well, I will glory in this infirmity. I will stop asking You to take it away. It is really when I am weak that Your power is made manifest in me and through me.” So we must never grumble. We must gladly accept what He allows and remember that we are fulfilling the glory of God.
A Thought to Ponder: We must never grumble at our lot, nor ask doubting questions.
(From Safe in the World, pp. 155-156, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Joel 2
Judgment is coming for the sins of the people, but after repentance, they will be restored.
INSIGHT
Joel predicts a locust plague to come upon the land of Judah, which is both primary and secondary as a prophetic warning. The primary meaning is a literal locust plague. But the things Joel says about the locusts gradually transcend what could be true of mere bugs and could only be true of an invading army. In this way, the locust plague becomes symbolic of an invading army swarming over the land of Judah, stripping it of everything that has life. The warning of the plague comes because Judah is failing to serve the Lord. Joel holds out an escape: “Turn to Me with all your heart . . . rend your heart and not your garments” (vv. 12-13). Judah ignores the warning and the judgment eventually falls. Sin always has its consequences. (Quiet Walk)
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ANGELIC REVELATIONS
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:14
Another function of the angels is to reveal God’s purposes. It was through angels that God revealed to Abraham His purpose with regard to Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18), and He revealed His will to Jacob more than once in the same way. Gideon also was told God’s purpose for him through an angel, and in the New Testament Zacharias was told about the birth of his son, who became known as John the Baptist, through an angel that appeared to him when he was in the Temple. It was an angel who told Joseph that he need not worry about the condition of his espoused wife Mary. It was an angel also who told him to flee to Egypt, and an angel who told him to come out of Egypt.
But I would say that the most comforting and the most wonderful aspect of this teaching is what we are told in the Scriptures of the way in which God uses angels to bless and to care for His own people: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). What is the greatest function of the angels? It is to minister to you and to me–to minister to the “heirs of salvation.”
It seems to me from this biblical teaching that I am entitled to say that the angels are used by God with respect to us and to our salvation. For example, in the account of the conversion of Cornelius in Acts 10, we are told that as Cornelius was praying one day an angel suddenly appeared to him and began to give him a preview, as it were, of his own salvation and to tell him what he should do in order that his salvation might be realized.
A Thought to Ponder
God uses angels to bless and to care for His own people.
From God the Father, God the Son, p. 111.by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Two Houses
Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matthew 7:24
To test the stability of two houses, engineers simulated a Category 3 hurricane by using powerful fans that produced wind gusts of one hundred miles per hour for ten minutes. The first house was built according to a non-hurricane building code, and the other was put together with a reinforced roof and floors. The first house shook and eventually collapsed, but the second house survived with only a few cosmetic damages. One of the engineers summarized the study by asking, “Which house would you rather be living in?”
Concluding His teaching on values of kingdom living, Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24). The fierce winds blew, but the house survived. In contrast, the person who hears and yet doesn’t obey, “is like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (v. 26). The fierce winds blew, and the house collapsed under the intensity of the storm. Jesus presented His audience with two options: build your lives on the solid foundation of obedience to Him or on the unstable sand of your own ways.
We too have to make a choice. Will we build our lives on Jesus and obedience to His words or disobedience to His instruction? By the Holy Spirit’s help, we can choose to build our lives on Christ.
By Marvin Williams
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Praying for Faith
“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)
Many centuries ago, a desperate father brought his son to the Lord Jesus with an appeal for healing. The boy was demon-possessed from childhood and tormented physically and spiritually. The agony was awful. His father had brought him to Jesus’ disciples, and they were unable to do anything. Nothing worked (Mark 9:17-21).
Jesus told the father, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth” (v. 23). The urgent and tearful cry of that hurting father was, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” (v. 24). No doubt we often need to plea for such help. Join me in this prayer that the Lord will grant us greater faith in Him.
Oh Lord, God, we cannot know the end of a thing. We do not have certainty about the plans of our days. Forgive us when we try without consulting You. Forgive our blundering efforts to make something happen. We love You, and we want to please You, but our lives are so caught up in the things of this world. Help us, Lord. Help us to know how much we need You. Help us to see the real values of eternal things. Give us a greater awareness of Your Holy Spirit. Give us a holy awe of Your Word. Drive us to our knees more often, Lord. Keep us close.
Oh, our Father, purge us from the ungodly. Separate us from the sins that hinder and blind us. Meet us in the halls of our heart and sanctify us there. And then, Lord Jesus, embolden us for the work ahead. Provide our daily bread. Cleanse us of our sins and enrich our fellowship with the saints. Clothe us in the armor of God and place us where we must stand. Enable us to resist the enemy in the faith, that we may see his strongholds crumble and his minions flee. Grant us a fruitful harvest and an effective ministry, in Jesus’ name. Amen. (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
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The 80-Percent Difference
And the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. EPHESIANS 5:33
I once asked Elisabeth Elliot, who for decades has been one of the most respected women in Christian culture, a very specific question: “If you had a group of wives who had all been married between 10 and 15 years—that difficult stretch when the honeymoon is long gone, when responsibilities are high, when the
children are often plentiful and chaotic—what would be the best piece of marriage advice you could give them?”
Her answer, as always, is worth remembering: Respect your husband, and don’t argue. A wife at that stage of marriage realizes this is not exactly the man she envisioned before the wedding ceremony. This person whom she thought was a prize package has turned out to be a surprise package. But the more you can offset the differences in your personalities and the way you respond to each other, the more you can learn to enjoy this man. My husband once made the statement: “If a woman conceded the fact that her husband was perhaps up to 80 percent of her expectations, she ought to consider herself very lucky.” Still, what’s she going to do with the other 20 percent?
You can pick away at that 20 percent for the rest of your life, but you’re not going to reduce it by very much. One of the secrets of a good marriage is learning to accept with gladness the 80 percent you’ve got. Barbara and I have seen that even the best of marriages come with differences of opinion and expectations, with many sources of potential conflict. If we obsess over each other’s flaws, they can soon blot out all the other’s strengths. Elisabeth is right: Marriage is less about eliminating each other’s faults and more about celebrating each other’s value. (Moments with You Couples Devotional by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)
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The master assizes
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Cor. 5:10
Paul says that we must all, preacher and people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” If you learn to live in the white light of Christ here and now, judgment finally will cause you to delight in the work of God in you. Keep yourself steadily faced by the judgment seat of Christ; walk now in the light of the holiest you know. A wrong temper of mind about another soul will end in the spirit of the devil, no matter how saintly you are. One carnal judgment, and the end of it is hell in you. Drag it to the light at once and say—‘My God, I have been guilty there.’ If you don’t, hardness will come all through. The penalty of sin is confirmation in sin. It is not only God who punishes for sin; sin confirms itself in the sinner and gives back full pay. No struggling or praying will enable you to stop doing some things, and the penalty of sin is that gradually you get used to it and do not know that it is sin. No power save the incoming of the Holy Ghost can alter the inherent consequences of sin.
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light.” Walking in the light means for many of us walking according to our standard for another person. The deadliest Pharisaism to-day is not hypocrisy, but unconscious unreality. (Chambers, O. (1986). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering.)
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